Newari Stone Oil Lamp

A long, dark, pebble-smooth form with a shallow dish on its back.

This stone oil lamp is Newari, from Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. Oil lamps are used in Newar and wider Nepali religious life, where lighting a lamp is a common offering at shrines and during festivals such as Tihar. An elongated, bean-like body with rounded ends, narrowing slightly at the left. The color is blackish-grey with a dull, satiny surface. It is 6 inches wide, 2.5 deep and 1.5 high.

Low and plain, and keeping its dish to itself.